since the 3rd of july was a mini-friday, we took the opportunity to have a date night. lately, with our current living situation it’s been hard to have these, which made last night all the more sweeter.

we found ourselves at Mankas Corner, a local tapas steakhouse that recently opened up. i was very tempted to have the bone marrow, since i’d never had it. but it was a bit pricey and i figured the portion would be tiny. so i’ll have it next time. i’m too curious about it not to have it. plus they say it is an aphrodisiac. dinner was good, nothing blow your socks off (especially for the price) but the ambiance was nice which made for some good conversation. we had a really good heart-to-heart talk and in a lot of ways i feel like the weight and stresses of the past couple months had melted away. after dinner, we took the long way home through the valley, since patrick wanted to look for jack rabbits in the fields. it felt good to feel like we re on the same page and in the same rhythm again. it’s hard to do that when you spend the week apart.

as for my summer manifesto, i tried rhubarb for the first time, in the form of a rhubarb strawberry crumble. i knew it was going to be tart, but i was promised that it would be balanced by the sweetness of the strawberry. i was not a fan. it would have been better if that dollop of cream was ice cream. i’m always kind of disappointed when i try a new food and don’t like it because i love all food. but i guess not.

at least it was pretty: